Bhandari Rishi, Wong Adam Chun-Nin, Lee Jana C, Boyd Alex, Shelby Kent, Ringbauer Joseph, Kang David S
Biological Control of Insects Research Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Columbia, Missouri, USA.
Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Microbiol Spectr. 2025 Aug 12:e0260824. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.02608-24.
Microbial control of insect pests offers promising alternatives to traditional pesticides. However, the microbial communities and factors influencing these communities within insect hosts remain poorly understood. This study examined the whole-body bacterial communities in wild , commonly known as spotted wing Drosophila (SWD). Fly samples were collected from two farms growing wild Himalayan blackberries near blueberry crops, one blackberry farm, and one elderberry farm across four locations in the United States. Our analyses showed significant differences in microbial communities in flies across various host crops and sampling locations. We identified co-occurring bacterial genera, dominated by and , and the overall microbiome was distinct from those found in laboratory-grown flies. Our findings suggest that the host crop, sex of the fly, sampling location, and their interactions play a crucial role in shaping microbial communities in SWD, indicating the influence of various ecological interactions. While no significant differences in microbiome composition were observed between male and female flies, network analysis revealed distinct sex-specific microbial co-occurrence patterns. Female flies displayed a more stable and interconnected microbial network than male flies, suggesting that sex-specific factors might influence bacterial interactions. Interestingly, the most abundant microbial taxa were not necessarily the most connected in the networks, showing that less abundant taxa may also play a significant role in shaping the fly microbiome. This study underscores the complexity of microbial ecology in SWD and highlights the necessity of considering these dynamics when developing pest management strategies in agriculture.IMPORTANCEStudies on the microbiome of spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) have primarily focused on laboratory-reared flies in controlled environments and fed artificial diets. In contrast, we examined microbial communities in wild flies from various host crops across four locations in the United States. Our findings show that these communities are distinct from those of laboratory-grown flies and are influenced by the fly's sex, host crop, geographical location, and their interactions. Our study identifies several dominant bacterial genera across samples, suggesting that these may represent the core microbial communities in wild SWD. Given that microbial communities influence physiological activities in SWD, manipulating the microbiome may have either a positive or negative impact on insect fitness. This study enhances our understanding of microbial dynamics in understudied wild SWD populations, emphasizing the importance of these dynamics in effective integrated pest management strategies.
微生物控制害虫为传统杀虫剂提供了有前景的替代方案。然而，昆虫宿主体内的微生物群落以及影响这些群落的因素仍知之甚少。本研究调查了野生斑翅果蝇（SWD）的全身细菌群落。果蝇样本采集自美国四个地点的两个种植蓝莓作物附近野生喜马拉雅黑莓的农场、一个黑莓农场和一个接骨木农场。我们的分析表明，不同宿主作物和采样地点的果蝇微生物群落存在显著差异。我们鉴定出了共同出现的细菌属，其中以[具体属名1]和[具体属名2]为主，总体微生物组与实验室饲养果蝇的微生物组不同。我们的研究结果表明，宿主作物、果蝇性别、采样地点及其相互作用在塑造SWD的微生物群落中起着关键作用，表明了各种生态相互作用的影响。虽然未观察到雄性和雌性果蝇在微生物组组成上有显著差异，但网络分析揭示了不同的性别特异性微生物共现模式。雌性果蝇的微生物网络比雄性果蝇更稳定且相互连接性更强，这表明性别特异性因素可能影响细菌相互作用。有趣的是，在网络中最丰富的微生物分类群不一定是连接性最强的，这表明丰度较低的分类群在塑造果蝇微生物组中也可能发挥重要作用。本研究强调了SWD微生物生态学的复杂性，并突出了在制定农业害虫管理策略时考虑这些动态的必要性。重要性关于斑翅果蝇（SWD）微生物组的研究主要集中在受控环境中以人工饲料饲养的实验室果蝇。相比之下，我们研究了来自美国四个地点不同宿主作物的野生果蝇的微生物群落。我们的研究结果表明，这些群落与实验室饲养果蝇的群落不同，并且受到果蝇性别、宿主作物、地理位置及其相互作用的影响。我们的研究在样本中鉴定出了几个优势细菌属，表明这些可能代表野生SWD的核心微生物群落。鉴于微生物群落影响SWD的生理活动，操纵微生物组可能对昆虫适应性产生正面或负面影响。本研究增进了我们对研究较少的野生SWD种群中微生物动态的理解，强调了这些动态在有效的综合害虫管理策略中的重要性。
